by Jessica Towns The question is always: what’s next? Two years ago, I was on a walk with my newborn daughter, beelining toward a much-needed Starbucks latte, when an elderly woman approached me at the crosswalk. She looked down and smiled at the baby. “Is this your first?” she asked. Life is always pushing us forward toward whatever’s next: finish…
Category: Family
Baby in Therapy
by Zach Brittle There’s a dirty trick I play on couples from time to time, especially when they have kids. They come in, complaining about one another, and how they don’t have a shared parenting philosophy, and how their kids are taking up all their time and energy, and how intimacy has evaporated, and, and, and… And, here’s the trick…I…
Every family had perfect attendance
Mike Schloss knows about parent support and the importance of community. Before he became a stay at home dad, he worked at Treehouse, a local organization that provides much needed support to foster children in Washington. When his daughter was born, Mike joined PEPS for Dads. Later, he joined Baby Peppers. He was the only dad in this daytime group…
Your Baby Wants You to Stop Talking to One Another
Here are 5 Questions to Ask and Keep Asking to Maintain your Connection by Zach Brittle One of the things that happens when couples have a baby, is that they stop talking to each other. At least, they stop talking to each other in ways that are interesting and intimate. Gracious and generative. Curious and kind. Of course, this doesn’t…
ABCDs of Marriage & Money
by Zach Brittle One of the most common areas of conflict for couples is around the issue of finances. It’s a tricky topic because it’s one of the only issues in a marriage that is measurable. The ability to measure gives us the ability to assign worth. Assigning worth is dangerous business in a relationship, especially when it opens the…
25 Ideas for Promoting Kindness and Unity
We heard from families in the PEPS community who are weary from the election season. Our community has shared lots of ideas that promote kindness and unity.
On Being Free—And feeling totally terrified
by Meghann McNiff I recently took a canoe trip with my husband and our not quite four-month old. As we drove north for two days we were downright giddy, and not just because our baby was sleeping “like a baby” (surely whoever coined this phrase never had children of their own). In the parking lot, we were all smiles as…
The baby is amazing…but intimacy sucks.
by Zach Brittle As a couples therapist, I see a ton of different kinds of relationship issues. This week, a couple came into my office asking for help because they’d just had a baby. They related that the baby was like a grenade. In this case it was was a “he”. And “he” exploded onto the family scene and disrupted…
Having a baby? Here’s why you’re likely to get divorced soon
by Zach Brittle You know that statistic that 50% of all marriages end in divorce? It’s actually a myth. The good news is that the actual number isn’t quite that high. In fact, sociologists have been debating it for some time and most agree that the actual number is somewhere between 25% and 40%. I realize that’s a huge range…
Help Wanted
As a PEPS leader and fellow mom of two young kids, I’m regularly impressed by the many things – big and small – that I see parents achieving, surviving, juggling, conquering and figuring out day by day, riding this tidal wave that is parenthood. The sleep, the food fights, the bottle battles, nursing strikes, potty training, sibling rivalry, remembering to…
